WHY IT MATTERSA bit of perspective: the biggest beer festival in the U.S. last year, the Great American Beer Festival, attracts 60,000 visitors, including brewers, judges and press, over a two-day period. According to Visit Denver, GABF gave the city a $21.9 million economic boost in 2014. That’s not an insignificant number by any stretch, but it’s nothing compared to our German colleagues.

This huge disparity speaks to both the influence and impact a several hundred-year-old beer culture has on a global stage. Oktoberfest also hints at just how big modern craft beer culture could become. The BA’s mid-year report shows that the growth of craft beer’s market share is shrinking. But if you look past the statistics at what’s really happening, it isn’t craft beer withering on the bine. Instead, it’s becoming a part of our everyday culture. Is it a culture that could sustain a two-week festival attended by 7 million people, 2.6 million of which are tourists? Not yet, but it’s certainly not outside the realm of possibility in the future.